Public service another victim of Abbott's broken promises

Posted by Andrew Leigh Mp48sc on September 07, 2014

It has been a shocking year for the Australian Public Service under the Abbott Government. On this first anniversary of the Coalition taking government, it's worth remembering what they promised before the election, compared with what has happened since.

MEDIA RELEASE

PUBLIC SERVICE ANOTHER VICTIM OF BROKEN PROMISES

The Australian Public Service has just endured its toughest year since ‘Max the Axe’ rampaged through in 1996, with thousands of jobs lost and promises broken.

Before the 2013 election, Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne both categorically promised there would be no forced sackings within the public service, and that no more than 12,000 jobs would go:

“I really want to stress that we are not talking about forced redundancies, we are talking about not replacing everyone who leaves, that’s all.”

TONY ABBOTT – PRESS CONFERENCE – 11 OCTOBER 2012

“There is no ambiguity about the Coalition’s position. If elected, we will reduce the Commonwealth public service by 12,000 through natural attrition.”

CHRISTOPHER PYNE – MEDIA RELEASE – 28 AUGUST 2013

Both these promises have been broken.

Staff have already been forced into involuntary redundancies at The Treasury, the Australian Valuation Office and the Department of Industry. More forced sackings are also mooted at the Australian Tax Office because of the Government’s decision to close 10 regional tax offices.

The Abbott Government also misled the Australian public about the scale of its planned job cuts. Despite promising to reduce the public service by 12,000, Tony Abbott is actually getting rid of 16,500 dedicated workers across Australia.

He is literally decimating the public service.

The cost of these redundancies is expected to top $1 billion once entitlements and severance packages are paid.

The Abbott Government’s ideologically driven agenda is revealed in the fact that the number of public servants per Australian did not rise under Labor.

Public servants across Australia rightly feel betrayed by a government which promised them one thing before the election but has spent its first year in office doing exactly the opposite.